Broomfield Foster Parents Honored At Governor's Mansion

BROOMFIELD, CO -- Colorado is undergoing a foster family shortage, with the Colorado Department of Human Services estimating that the state needs 1,200 additional foster families by 2019. On an average day in Colorado, 14 kids enter court-mandated foster care while their parents get help learning parenting skills, but the state does not have enough foster families.

On Saturday, a Broomfield family was one of five Colorado foster families were honored by First Lady of Colorado Robin Hickenlooper and Reggie Bicha, executive director of the Colorado Department of Human Services. The annual luncheon takes place at the Governor's mansion every May during National Foster Care Month.

"These five families represent the very best in our communities. They saw the need to provide safe, temporary homes for kids and stepped up to meet that need," Hickenlooper said in a statement.

Emily and Jeff Hendrix from Broomfield have connected with other foster families in Broomfield to create a support group and seek advice from experts to share "trauma-informed" parenting advice. Emily and Jeff say children and teens who have been abused or neglected will be impacted by that experience throughout their entire lives, but they've also seen firsthand how resilient kids are. The couple said they originally wanted to adopt children, but have come to see the importance of foster care.

"Foster kids are the same as all kids," Emily said. "They need encouragement, they need love, they need to feel safe. If they're not worried about where their next meal is coming from, whether or not they have clothes to wear, then they can draw their picture, or learn to play a musical instrument."

Jeff said sometimes the children's parents reach out to the Hendrixes to ask for parenting advice.

"[Emily's] been told that some of her greatest successes have been the parents of the foster kids," Jeff said in a video interview.

BJ and Soledad Baumgardner from Monte Vista became foster parents 14 years ago. Since that time, they have fostered many kids and adopted three from the San Luis Valley area. Keeping the children near their families in rural mountain towns is important to the couple.

"Our goal as foster parents is reunification," BJ said in a video. "We help the child while mom and dad do what they need to do." The Baumgardners encourage all the foster kids in their care to play sports and sing.

"Children are resilient," said Bicha. "Even when they've been exposed to adverse experiences like abuse or neglect, they can overcome them and reach their full potential with help and support from a dedicated adult, like a foster parent."

According to CDHE, approximately 4,889 children and teens in Colorado have been placed in an "out-of-home placement" like a foster family, group home or residential treatment center for their safety.

Of those, there are approximately 1,616 children or teens living with a "kinship family," and there are approximately 2,156 children and teens living with a foster family.

But today, 805 children or teens are living in a congregate setting, such as a residential treatment center or group home. Many of these 805 children and teens are ready to live with a foster family, Bicha said, where they are better able to heal from their past traumatic experiences, but no foster family is available to care for them.

Other parents honored at the event were:

• Carla and John Londo from Colorado Springs
• Anne Marks and Ingrid Olson from Fort Collins
• Ann and Mario Perricone from Denver

"Foster families don't just provide a bed for these kids, they provide safety, nurturing, love, compassion and a chance to overcome the trauma that comes along with a childhood marked by abuse and neglect," Hickenlooper said in a press release. "I hope these five families and their stories inspire others to become foster parents."

To learn how you can become a foster parent in Colorado, visit CO4Kids.org.

Image via CO4Kids.org